Tuesday, April 4, 2017

On the eve of son Alec's birthday, we pulled a Lewis Alec's Blend
from the cellar for dinner.

I've often written in these pages about the fun we have with this branding, with its signature 'L' on the label, ala Laverne and Shirley, or wife Linda, or her mother Lucy, or our daughter Erin Leigh, or her daughter, our first grandchild/daughter Lucy! That coupled with the Hoosier heritage of
Randy Lewis, Indy 500 race driver from our native Indiana, and, their
affinity to family, naming labels after their grandkids - Alec, Ethan
and Mason, we adopted Alec's Blend as a signature label for son Alec
and feature it at family celebrations.

Lewis wines are family favorites for such special occasions, punctuated
by this namesake Blend for son Alec. Lewis Cabernets are
some of our favorites and we have a decade long vertical of Alec's as well
as their Cabs, dating back to this '97. This blend is dedicated to Randy
and Debbie Lewis' first grandson Alec who was born on the day of the
harvest of the grapes for this wine leading to the name. I believe this may be the, or
certainly close to the inaugural vintage of this label/blend - its
certainly the oldest I have ever seen (or tasted).

It should not be a surprise that we love this wine with its blend of our
favorite varietals - Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, from our
favorite region Napa Valley.

This was a great accompaniment to Linda's grilled marinated beef flank steak and twice baked potatoes dinner.

Lewis Cellars Napa Valley Alec's Blend 1997

We hold more than a dozen vintages of this label dating back to this 1997, our last bottle of the oldest vintage in our vertical collection. Now at twenty years of age, this is just starting to show any signs of aging with the bright fruits starting to give way to tobacco and leather non-fruit flavors.

Dark garnet colored, medium to full bodied, it showed full, concentrated
complex black raspberry and black berry fruits accented by tones of
clove, hints of black tea and cedar starting to give way to notes of tobacco leaf and leather on a spicy oak moderate
firm but smooth tannin finish.

This vintage blend is 65% Cabernet
Sauvignon, 20% Syrah, and 15% Petit Verdot. The Bordeaux varietals no
doubt contribute to its longevity, impressive none-the-less, drinking
this well at twenty years. As I've noted before, tastings like this leave me confident to be patient with our vertical collection of this label.